


Betting on Love

by fukmylyf



Category: Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/M, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, all of magnus's friends are shitty no one is nice, blitz n hearth r mentioned but only in passing rip, magnus has shitty friends, pls read this trainwreck of a fic, they put bets on him
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-02
Updated: 2016-12-02
Packaged: 2018-09-03 17:26:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8722531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fukmylyf/pseuds/fukmylyf
Summary: Alex and Magnus are pining, and their friends are placing bets on them.





	

Magnus Chase was pathetically bad at picking up on social cues. It was pretty much a given fact at this point, and one Alex Fierro was painfully aware of. She’d tried everything; pick-up lines, both sexual and not, posing in front of him, blatantly flirting with him. She’d even complimented him once, punctuating a comment about how cute he looked with a flick on the nose. He’d blushed, the red rushing down from his face to his shoulders, and Alex wished for a second that she could yank his shirt off to see where the blush ended. 

“I don’t know what to do anymore,” she sighed, head resting in her sister’s lap. Samirah snorted, carding her fingers through Alex’s bright green hair. 

“Maybe you should buy him flowers,” she joked, working a braid into the short hair. 

“I’ve been considering it. Do you think he likes roses?” 

Sam shrugged. “Maybe. Need help getting them?”

“Possibly, yes. Ooh, chocolates,” she added, grinning. “If I buy him chocolates I could steal them from him too.” She winked. Sam swatted her forehead. 

“That’s not why you get people gifts,” she scolded. Alex shrugged. 

“It’s why  _ I _ get people gifts.”

Sam shook her head. “Have you considered, maybe, telling him how you feel?”    
Alex made a face, frowning. “Ew, feelings. No.”

“You wouldn’t have to get him flowers or anything,” Sam prompted, undoing the braid. 

“Well, yeah, but at what cost? And anyways, maybe he doesn’t even like me-” Sam snorted, hiding her laugh with a cough. 

“Sorry, continue.”

“You know something. Spill.”

“Magnus sure does stare at you a lot for someone who isn’t at least slightly attracted to you,” she commented, shrugging. Alex squinted at her. “I’m just saying, there’s definitely  _ some _ kind of mutual attraction there. Beyond that, my lips are sealed.”

“Magnus isn’t even your real brother. You’re allowed to spill his secrets,” Alex groaned. 

“My lips are sealed,” she repeated, outright grinning now. Alex pouted. 

“Samirah al-Abbas, you are a monster,” Alex mumbled, sitting up. “I’m still not talking  _ feelings _ with him.”

“I just think it would be a good idea,” she sighed, ruffling her siblings hair. Alex knocked her hands away, standing up so she could find a mirror to fix her hair in. 

“Just  _ talk _ to him. Or buy him flowers. Magnus is about as perceptive as a brick wall,” she commented. She mumbled something afterwards, something that sounded suspiciously like “just like you.” 

“Well, it’s almost dinner, so I’m going,” Sam said. “See you downstairs.”

Alex sighed, finally happy with how her hair had settled (messy, but stylish, but not like she was  _ trying _ ). Maybe she’d ask Magnus to come down to dinner with her. She could just ignore the rest of their hallmates and pretend they were on a date, like she’d been doing the past week. Although it was kind of difficult with how much Magnus socialized with everyone else, and as a result, forced  _ her _ to socialize, she had to admit their small group was starting to feel like home… 

Not that she was getting sappy or soft about it. Gods forbid she admitted she was actually growing fond of the group. Halfborn was still fairly small-minded, and all of her pop-culture references went over pretty much  _ everyone’s _ heads (save Magnus, the only person she could really engage in a heated debate about television with). No, she wasn’t crazy about them. 

She huffed, pulling open the door to reveal a very frazzled looking Magnus, blond hair sticking up like he’d been pulling at it before he came to see her. 

“Uh. Hey,” he started, face already tinged pink. “Do you- do you wanna go down for dinner together?”

Alex nodded, her own face growing hot. Magnus looked like a perfect wreck, and she had to admit it was a  _ little _ attractive. 

“What happened to you? You look like you just-” she cut herself off. Magnus looked like he’d just had sex or something; pink cheeks, messy hair. Even his shirt was slightly wrinkled, like he’d been writhing around in it. 

“I. Um.” Magnus turned redder, scratching at the back of his neck with one hand. He shrugged. “I ran here?”

“Bullshit,” Alex replied, pouting. 

“Well, it doesn’t. It doesn’t matter,” he stuttered, frowning. Alex sighed. Magnus inclined his head in the general direction of the elevator. “Pretty sure TJ, Mallory and Halfborn have already saved seats for us.”

“Yeah, yeah, sure,” she said, nodding. Magnus visibly relaxed, the tension in his shoulders easing as he stepped back to give Alex room to step outside. She let the door swing shut behind her before grabbing Magnus’s arm with a grin.

“Pretty nice of you to wait for me,” she said. 

“Mm, and they say chivalry is dead,” Magnus quipped, glancing up at Alex. He wouldn’t ever admit it, but their height difference both pissed him off and also really,  _ really _ turned him on.

“I never said you were a gentleman,” Alex replied. Magnus rolled his eyes, coming to a stop at the lift. They got a few weird looks from their floormates, and Alex quickly dropped Magnus’s arm, stepping aside a little. 

They made their way to the feast hall in silence, trading glances. Magnus was a little thrown off by how nervous Alex looked. Normally, she was pretty well composed, but her hands had gone up to play with her hair a few times now, and her lips were red from biting on them. Alex was a little flustered by how Magnus looked, the light smattering of freckles across is nose and cheeks darkened by his blush, lips chapped and peeling. He looked on edge, grey eyes flicking across Alex’s face before staring resolutely at his own feet, only to glance up again to look at Alex. The elevator ride couldn’t’ve ended soon enough. 

They stepped out without looking at one another or anybody else in the carriage, both silently marching into the feast hall. Both of them could feel how awkward the moment was, but neither knew how to break the atmosphere. 

“They’re over there,” Magnus said, his voice cracking. He winced. Talking around Alex was hard enough normally, but now it was just the two of them, surrounded by people he knew only vaguely? Words escaped him. 

“Yeah,” Alex replied, chancing a glance over at the shorter boy. Magnus’s cheeks were bright red now, and he didn’t seem to want to look up from the floor anytime soon. She smiled; it was kind of adorable.  _ Magnus _ was kind of adorable. 

“Well, look who finally showed up,” Halfborn greeted them, grinning. He shot Magnus a confusing look, at least to Alex. Magnus only responded with a heated glare, to which the berserker shrugged. Mallory sighed in disappointment, TJ’s smile falling a little. 

“Ok, what happened?” Alex asked, slipping into her seat. It was weird to see the mood dip so obviously, and she had no idea what could’ve caused it. 

“Well, we put bets on Ma-”

“Nothing! Nothing is up, and Halfborn, if you don’t shut up I’m stabbing you in the back tomorrow, teamwork be damned,” Magnus huffed, sitting down. 

Halfborn only laughed. “I’d like to see you try, son of Frey,” he quipped, earning himself a kick under the table courtesy of said son of Frey. 

“You, Halfborn Gunderson, are an asshole,” he growled, glaring down at the plate of food graciously dropped in front of him by one of the Valkyries. 

“Quite frankly, we’re a little disappointed we couldn’t make any money, is all,” Mallory sighed, propping her head up on her hand. 

“Anybody win anything today?” Sam asked, dropping down beside Magnus. 

“Fortunately, no,” Magnus replied. “Except you, I guess.”

Sam grinned, holding her hand out. All three einherjar across from Magnus and Alex dropped crumpled bank notes in her hand. 

“It’s not fair,” TJ mumbled. “You’ve got the best sources of information.”

Sam shrugged, shoving the money into her pocket. “I’m just taking advantage of my assets.”

“I’m wounded,” Magnus sighed. 

“What am I missing?” Alex asked, slightly flabbergasted. “Are you guys placing bets on something? Because if so I want in.”

“No, no, you really don’t,” Magnus told her, glancing over at her. “These four,” he waved at the group, “are idiots.”

“Blitz and Hearth placed bets yesterday as well,” Sam said, smiling slightly. Magnus’s blush, which had been gradually fading, now returned full force. 

“ _ No _ ,” he mumbled softly, burying his face in his hands. “I hate all of you.”

“Are you betting on Magnus?” Alex asked, hand hovering over Magnus’s shoulders, not entirely sure whether to comfort him or make fun of him.

Sam winked at her. “Not quite, sister,” she said. “I’ll… I’ll tell you later. Maybe.” She took off, leaving Alex mildly annoyed, Magnus flustered, and TJ, Mallory and Halfborn ridiculously pleased. 

“Uh, Magnus?”

“Leave me alone to  _ die _ ,” he replied. Well. He’d be no help then. 

“You ok?”

“No.”

“Ok…” She sighed, glancing over at the other three einherji. “So. What did you guys do today?”

Dinner passed without much fanfare. Magnus eventually raised his head and joined the conversation, engaging in a heated debate with the older einherji about who’s media was more entertaining. 

He ended up more or less walking Alex back to his room. He still wasn’t sure how he was able to pick up on whenever Alex changed gender, but he wasn’t complaining. It was worth it to see the relieved expression on Alex’s face when he was able to consistently use the right pronouns. Alex smiled at him at the door, standing inside his room. 

“Do you want a kiss goodnight or something?” he asked, eyes lazily tracing the line of Magnus’s jaw. 

_ Well, frankly, yes _ , Magnus thought, shaking his head, a blush tinging his cheeks pink. He really had to stop blushing around Alex. It was almost painfully embarassing how obviously he liked the green-haired boy. 

“Sweet dreams, I guess,” he said, smiling at Alex and risking a look directly at those heterochromic eyes. Alex Fierro was going to be the re-death of him, and, staring into those beautifully mismatched eyes, he decided it wasn’t a terrible fate. 

“You too, Maggie,” he replied, flicking Magnus’s nose before promptly closing the door in his face. Magnus smiled at the closed door, stupidly pleased with himself. There was no reason for him to be this happy about Alex booping his nose, but here he was. Gods, he was embarassing. 

He hesitated before going back to his own room. Sure, he’d put it off for weeks, months. He wasn’t all that sure that Alex would respond positively to his dumb crush, but. Hel. What did he have to lose?

He knocked on Alex’s door. He swung it open, glancing down at the blond. 

“I thought you were going back to your room,” he said, confused. 

“Oh, yeah, just. Uh. One quick question?” Magnus managed to stutter out. He could do this. There wasn’t any backing out now. 

“One question,” Alex repeated, nodding. “Shoot.”

“Do you wanna go out sometime? Like. A date,” he forced out, words slurring together so it sounded more like “doyawannagooutsometimelikeadate?” 

Alex’s eyes widened and he slammed the door shut. Magnus stared at the wood, eyes tracing the curve of Alex’s name, written on the door. Well. At least he didn’t decapitate him, although admittedly he was a little crushed. 

Maybe more than a little. 

“I’ll just- I’ll go then,” he said to the door, stepping away. That went about as well as he expected it to, really. Alex was totally out of his league. He was cool, collected. He was strong. Magnus, on the other hand, could recite random Doctor Who trivia, cried and screamed a lot, and could barely weild a sword despite a lot of time spent practicing with one. Alex Fierro had no reason to be attracted to him whatsoever. 

He pushed open his own door, sighing in defeat. He wasn’t sure why he expected any different. “Congratulations, Magnus Chase,” he mumbled under his breath. “You played yourself.”

He swung the door shut behind him, but before it could close completely he heard a quick yelp, and saw a rose colored sneaker slip in between the door frame and the door. 

He opened the door. “Alex?”

“Sorry for slamming the door shut in your face, you caught me off guard,” he quickly spat out. He was wringing his hands out of nervousness, or something else. “And, uh, yes.”

“Wait, what?”

“Yes, Maggie, I will go on a date with you,” he clarified, rolling his eyes. 

“Oh. Uh. Wow.” Magnus’s brain felt like it was short circuiting. “Really? Wow.”

Alex snorted, reaching a hand out to tuck a strand of hair behind his ear. He traced his hand down Magnus’s freckled jaw, cupping his chin. Magnus blushed, looking up at Alex. 

“You’re too cute for your own good,” the taller boy sighed, leaning over to press a light kiss against Magnus’s cheek. 

“You missed,” he replied, reaching up to bury a hand in Alex’s hair and pull him into a fervent kiss. Alex smiled, pulling him closer by his hips, kicking the door shut behind him. He turned them around, pushing Magnus against the door, swallowing the little noise of protest he made. They separated, briefly, both breathing hard. 

“You’re a terrible kisser,” Alex huffed. 

“Just need practice,” Magnus replied. “Care to help me?”

“Gladly.” Their lips collided again, Alex’s hands burying themselves in Magnus’s hair, Magnus’s fingers clutching almost desperately at Alex’s shirt, back pressed firmly against the wood of the door. 

The next morning, Mallory was the one smiling smugly as the others handed over their pay. Not that Magnus and Alex were paying much attention, still fully absorbed in one another. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> hmu on tumblr @ http://notquitedeadyet.tumblr.com/
> 
> comments are always appreciated!!   
> this is my first time writing mcga fanfic go easy on me


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